THE  FIHE-ENGIHEER, 
THE  ARCHITECT, 

AND 

THE  HNDERWEITER 


J^elations  to  lEaclj  ©tl)er* 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  TO  THE  CONVENTION  OF  THE 
CHIEF  ENGINEERS  OF  THE  FIRE-DEPARTMENT 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  SEPT.  14,  1880. 


BY 

EDWARD  ^TKINSON, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOSTON  MANUFACTURERS’  MUTUAL  FIRE 
INSURANCE  COMPANY. 


BOSTON  : 

FRANKLIN  PRESS:  RAND,  AVERY,  & COMPANY. 

1880. 


«* 


ADDRESS 


GIVEN  BY 

EDWARD  ATKINSOX  TO  THE  FIRE-ENGINEERS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AT  THEIR  CONVENTION  IN 
BOSTON,  MASS.,  SEPT.  14,  1880. 


zr. 


5 


. 


f 


Gentlemen,  — In  the  days  of  my  youth,  when  I lived  upon 
the  top  of  Beacon  Hill,  close  to  the  State  House,  the  old  Hero 
hand-engine.  No.  6,  was  housed  in  Derne  Street,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  hill.  Whenever  an  alarm  of  fire  sounded,  it  was 
my  ambition,  as  well  as  that  of  every  other  boy  on  the  hill,  to  be 
the  first  at  the  door,  and  carr}^  the  end  of  the  rope  up  the  steep 
slope  of  Temple  Street,  while  the  members  of  the  company 
gathered  in  behind.  I may  therefore  claim  to  have  taken  a 
lead  in  the  service  of  the  fire-department  more  than  forty  years 
ago. 

I may  safely  assume  that  the  record  of  my  early  vigor  has 
followed  down  the  line,  and  to  that  I may  owe  Die  distinguished 
honor  of  being  called  upon  to  address  you  to-day.  Since  that 
time  I have  not  been  in  active  service  until  now. 

You  will  doubtless  admit  that  so  ancient  and  varied  an 
experience  as  I must  have  had  in  the  arduous  service  to  which 
I have  referred,  would  not  have  failed  to  give  me  many  memo- 
ries with  which  I might  occupy  the  hour  that  you  have  assigned 
to  me ; but  I do  not  understand  that  reminiscences  are  the 
order  of  the  day,  and  we  will  therefore  skip  the  last  forty 
years,  and  come  down  to  the  art  of  extinguishing  fires  at  the 
present  time.  That  this  is  one  of  the  high  arts,  no  one  will 
deny ; and  it  is  every  day  becoming  higher  as  story  is  added  to 
story,  and  the  ladders  grow  longer. 


j,  29390 


4 


But  at  the  very  outset  I am  met  by  a grave  difficulty.  I am 
to  address  a corps  of  men  whose  duties  demand  courage, 
energy,  discretion,  cool  deliberate  judgment,  endurance,  so- 
briety, and,  in  fact,  all  the  qualities  that  make  a true  man ; and 
yet,  the  more  I recognize  their  merits,  the  more  I must  condemn 
other  classes  in  the  community  who  are,  perhaps,  awarded,  or  at 
least  often  assume,  a higher  standing,  to  which  their  merits  do 
not  entitle  them. 

I am  reminded  of  one  of  the  many  stories  of  President 
Lincoln  : A boy  had  been  condemned  to  prison  for  opening  the 
letters  of  his  employer,  and  abstracting  money  from  them.  He 
was  a country  boy  who  had  not  lived  long  in  the  city,  and 
whose  previous  record  had  been  very  good.  Presently  a peti- 
tion for  his  pardon  was  forwarded  to  the  President  through 
the  member  of  Congress  for  the  district.  The  President  read 
it  carefully,  noted  how  well  bred  the  boy  had  been,  how  he  had 
been  to  Sunday  school,  how  he  had  never  committed  a fault 
before ; and  all  this  was  certified  to  by  the  best  citizens  of  the 
district.  Presently  the  President  looked  up,  and  said,  “Well, 
I suppose  I understand  this  case,  and  you  say  it  is  all  right.  I 
must  pardon  the  boy,  as  I did  another  for  the  last  man  who  went 
out  as  you  came  in ; but  I will  tell  you  what  we  must  do,  Mr. 

R : we  must  abolish  these  courts ; for,  if  I can  believe  all 

the  petitions  that  come  to  me  for  pardon,  all  that  the  courts  do 
is  to  put  the  best  boys  in  each  district  in  jail,  in  order  that  I may 
have  the  satisfaction  of  pardoning  them.” 

Now,  gentlemen,  if  I fully  comprehend  your  position,  we 
must  abolish  these  architects ; for,  so  far  as  I can  judge,  all  that 
they  do  is  to  put  up  the  most  perfect  specimens  of  combustible 
architecture,  in  order  that  you  may  have  the  satisfaction  of 
putting  out  the  fires  that  are  sure  to  occur  in  them. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  subject,  I must  of  necessity  repeat 
in  part  what  I have  said  elsewhere,  and  often  ; but,  as  I have 
had  no  previous  opportunity  to  present  this  whole  subject  in 
one  essay  before  so  able  and  influential  a body  of  men  as  I now 
have  before  me,  I may  be  permitted  to  state  the  case  as  fully  as 
possible  within  the  time  allotted,  and  without  regard  to  previous 
work. 

I would  by  no  means  undervalue  the  profession  of  the  true 
architect;  and  I wish  to  say  that  there  are  a few  conspicuous 
exceptions  to  the  common  rule.  There  are  architects  who  are 


5 


masters  of  all  that  pertains  to  the  art  of  building  and  construc- 
tion, and  who  know  how  to  combine  true  taste  and  admirable 
design  with  safety,  stability,  and  fitness  for  the  use  to  which 
buildings  are  to  be  applied.  They  can  build,  as  well  as  design; 
and  to  them  my  criticisms  do  not  apply. 

But  the  vast  majority  of  those  who  assume  the  title  of  archi- 
tect are  masters  only  of  the  art  of  sham.  Let  us  take  as  an 
example  the  modern  stone  church,  so  called.  What  is  it  but  a 
structure  of  timber,  kindling-wood,  lath,  and  plaster,  screened 
with  stone  on  the  outside  ? — both  timber  frame  and  stone  screen, 
each  almost  incapable  of  standing  alone,  but  holding  each  other 
up  by  wooden  ties  and  braces;  each  part  of  the  wooden  church 
within  connected  with  the  other  part  by  wooden  flues,  where 
fire  may  pass  at  its  will,  fully  protected  from  water,  and  with 
every  provision  so  adequately  made,  that,  even  if  the  fire  begins 
in  the  lowest  part  of  the  cellar,  in  the  usual  wooden  air-box  of 
the  furnace,  or  from  the  usual  pile  of  hot  ashes  in  the  usual 
corner,  the  first  visible  appearance  will  be  at  the  peak  of  the 
roof,  — seventy- five  to  one  hundred  feet  in  the  air.  You  are, 
every  one  of  you,  familiar  with  these  cases.  I venture  to  say 
that  there  is  hardly  a single  engineer  representing  a town  or 
city  of  twenty  thousand  people,  who  has  not  risked  his  own  life, 
or  Avitnessed  the  risk  of  the  firemen  under  his  orders,  in  dealing 
with  a fire  in  a brick  or  stone  church  constructed  after  this 
manner. 

The  schoolhouses,  hospitals,  and  almshouses  are  almost  all 
of  the  same  abominable  order,  — a network  of  hollow,  wooden 
flues,  connecting  hollow  floors  with  hollow  walls,  hollow  walls 
with  hollow  ceilings,  hollow  ceilings  with  hollow  roofs ; the 
inner  sides  of  these  flues  presenting  the  largest  possible  number 
of  sawed  corners,  and  the  maximum  of  danger. 

In  warehouses  the  case  is  even  worse.  Vast  amounts  of 
money  are  absolutely  wasted  in  modes  of  construction  that  only 
aggravate  the  hazard,  until  it  seems  as  if,  in  place  of  ignorance, 
or  utter  want  of  consideration  of  the  danger  of  fire,  a malignant 
intelligence  had  been  applied  to  the  whole  plan  of  the  building 
in  order  to  assure  the  very  maximum  of  loss  from  the  very  mini- 
mum of  cause. 

Within  the  last  few  months  I have  watched  the  construction 
of  a great  block  of  brick  warehouses,  intended  for  wholesale 
traffic.  They  are  consistent  in  every  respect  with  the  bad 


6 


rules  that  now  prevail ; they  are  a good  deal  higher  than  any  of 
the  buildings  in  the  neighborhood,  and  are  on  a very  narrow 
street.  If  a fire  ever  occurs  in  one  of  them,  the  wisest  course 
for  the  engineers  will  be  to  protect  the  adjacent  property,  and  to 
let  them  burn.  I will  only  describe  one  feature  : in  each  one 
is  an  open  shaft  for  the  elevator,  reaching  from  cellar  to  attic, 
sheathed  in  the  most  stupid  and  costly  way  with  wood  through- 
out. There  is  no  skylight  over  the  elevator  ; and,  when  the  fire 
ascends,  it  will  strike  the  inside  of  the  roof  of  thin  boards, 
which  will  hold  it  just  long  enough  to  deflect  the  flame  toward 
the  centre,  and  assure  tlie  complete  combustion  of  the  upper 
stoiy  and  roof. 

In  the  one  of  the  several  buildings  into  which  this  block  is 
divided,  which  I examined,  there  are  three  recesses  in  the  party 
walls  for  pipes  of  various  kinds,  faced  in  the  basement  and 
lower  stories  with  wood,  and  open  vertically.  They  communi- 
cate with  each  of  the  hollow  floors,  and  will  serve  as  flues  for 
fire  to  extend  through  the  middle  parts  of  the  building  that  are 
not  so  fully  served  with  the  means  of  communicating  fire  as  the 
upper  stories  are  by  the  front  and  rear  elevators. 

The  upper  stories  will  doubtless  be  used  for  manufacturing 
purposes.  If  they  should  be  used  for  the  manufacture  of  cloth- 
ing, another  oven  for  heating  smoothing-irons  may  be  placed  on 
a brick  hearth  laid  upon  the  hollow  floor,  as  it  was  in  the  build- 
ing lately  burned  in  Winthrop  Square.  In  the  warm  and  com- 
fortable quarters  thus  prepared  for  them,  with  convenient 
avenues  provided  behind  the  sheathing  on  the  party  walls,  the 
rats  of  the  neighborhood  will  establish  their  nursery,  and  build 
their  nests  of  the  scraps  of  oily  waste  that  have  been  used  to 
wipe  the  sewing-machines  and  shafting;  and  when  the  little  ones 
are  born,  not  being  provided  with  diapers,  they  will  piddle  upon 
the  waste,  and  thus  you  will  have  the  exact  conditions  for  spon- 
taneous combustion. 

The  apparatus  that  we  use  in  our  experiments  at  the  Insti- 
tute of  Technology  to  tell  whether  an  oil  is  liable  to  spontane- 
ous combustion,  consists  of  just  such  a close  chamber  maintained 
at  a uniform  but  quite  moderate  degree  of  heat.  Into  this  we 
put  some  oily  waste,  and  a little  moisture  only  hastens  the  com- 
bustion. 

The  occupants  will  again  wonder  what  makes  rats  haunt  a 
clothing  factory.  They  will  again  pay  fifty  dollars  to  a profes- 


7 


sional  rat-catcher  without  avail ; and  when  the  dangerous  fire 
occurs,  making  another  loss  of  half  a million  dollars,  they  may 
rebuild  in  the  same  stupid  way,  because  there  is  no  official  fire 
inquest,  and  no  method  on  the  part  of  the  underwriters  for 
ascertaining  the  precise  cause  of  fire,  and  avoiding  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  danger. 

In  the  case  that  I have  cited,  where  such  a fire  did  occur, 
there  happened  to  be  a restless  person  who  called  public  atten- 
tion to  the  faults ; and  in  the  reconstruction  they  have  been 
mostly  remedied.  But  mark  this,  gentlemen : although  the 
precise  cause  of  danger  may  not  have  been  foreseen  in  this 
case,  yet  the  general  bad  construction  of  this  building  and  the 
special  danger  of  these  ovens  had  been  foreseen ; and  the  plan 
necessary  to  be  followed  when  the  inevitable  fire  should  occur 
from  them  had  all  been  noted  by  the  assistant  city  fire-engi- 
neer in  charge  of  this  section  of  the  cit}^  His  plan  of  action  to 
meet  the  attack  which  his  enemy  the  architect  had  planned  in 
the  most  combustible  distribution  of  timber  and  board,  faced 
with  stone  and  screened  by  iron,  was  all  decided.  He  knew 
that  there  was  only  a single,  narrow,  and  dangerous  stairway 
to  reach  the  point  where  the  fire  would  begin;  he  knew  the 
danger  of  the  thin  board  roof;  and  having  thus  foreseen  the 
danger,  which  never  ought  to  have  existed  (if  for  no  other 
reason,  yet  because  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  women,  and 
children  were  employed  on  the  very  floors  on  which  this  danger 
was  known  to  exist  at  the  head  of  a single  combustible  stair- 
way, three  feet  wide  only),  he  was  able  to  direct  the  defensive 
force  of  firemen  so  that  only  half  a million  dollars  was  sacri- 
ficed in  an  attempt  to  combine  a stately  appearance  and  a fine 
architectural  effect  with  false  economy  and  utter  disregard  of 
safety  in  the  interior  construction. 

Had  the  building  been  under  the  supervision  of  the  factory 
mutual  underwriters,  or  had  that  engineer  possessed  an  influ- 
ence by  which  he  could  have  moved  the  owners  or  occupants 
to  take  the  simple  measures  that  would  have  prevented  loss, 
the  fire  itself  might  never  have  occurred,  or,  if  it  had,  this 
loss  would  have  been  less  than  five  hundred  dollars,  instead  of 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Upon  a neighboring  corner  another  building  has  just  been 
reconstructed  within  the  outer  shell,  — all  that  was  left  after  a 
great  fire.  It  is  the  second  building  that  has  been  almost 


8 


totally  destroyed  upon  that  spot,  and  a heavy  previous  loss  had 
occurred  but  a little  time  before  the  first  absolutely  destructive 
fire.  Three  fires  on  that  one  spot!  In  the  very  first  fire  com- 
plete destruction  had  only  been  prevented  by  a singular  acci- 
dent. In  a flue  in  the  party  wall  faced  with  wood,  the  soil 
and  leaden  water  pipes  had  been  placed.  The  fire  took  from 
spontaneous  combustion  in  the  basement  just  in  front  of  this 
wooden  facing ; the  heat  sufficed  to  melt  the  leaden  water-pipe, 
and  thus  let  the  water  on  before  the  boards  were  burned 
through ; and  this  accidental  automatic  sprinkler  stopped  the 
flame  passing  to  the  attic,  and  prevented  the  destruction  of  the 
building. 

The  first  complete  destruction  of  the  building  happened  in 
the  great  fire.  In  the  last  case  the  fire  came  from  the  adjoin- 
ing building  through  inadequate  iron  doors  on  the  upper  story, 
but  might  have  been  stayed  there,  because  the  engineer  in  this 
case  again  knew  the  danger,  and  was  on  the  spot  in  time  to 
guard  against  it;  but  the  equally  treacherous  iron  shutters  let 
the  fire  in  below.  The  tenants  had  been  warned  of  this  dan- 
ger ; but  the  very  conditions  of  their  lease  bound  them  to  main- 
tain precautions  that  were  worthless,  and  forbade  the  cheaper 
methods  of  safety.  That  building  is  now  being  prepared  for  a 
fourth  conflagration,  no  attention  having  been  paid  to  the 
lessons  of  either  fire.  If  there  was  a system  of  insuring  city 
buildings  similar  to  that  which  I represent,  none  of  the  dan- 
gers tliat  I have  described  would  be  tolerated,  from  which  a 
loss  of  a million  has  occurred  in  two  fires  during  the  past  year, 
and  from  which  causes  another  million  may  be  lost  at  any 
moment. 

Safe  methods  are  cheaper  as  well  as  safe.  The  dangers  in 
each  of  these  cases  were  foreseen  : the  remedies  Avere  easy  and 
simple.  The  new  building  that  I have  described,  but  which  has 
not  yet  burned,  has  been  made  dangerous  by  an  expenditure  of 
money  where  it  is  not  of  the  slightest  use. 

We  do  not  speak  Avithout  knoAvledge.  One  large  building 
offered  to  us  for  insurance  has  been  burned  Avithin  the  year 
in  the  very  manner  that  we  foretold  when  Ave  surveyed  it, 
Avhich  caused  us  to  refuse  to  insure  it ; and  the  delay  of  one 
year  on  the  r part  of  the  OAvners  in  adopting  our  suggestions 
for  prevention  of  loss,  because  of  alleged  Avant  of  time,  has 
cost  them  fifty  thousand  dollars  above  their  insurance,  and  a 


9 


break  in  the  conduct  of  their  business  hard  to  be  estimated  in 
money. 

Our  heaviest  loss  for  the  year  has  occurred  because  we  un- 
wisely assumed  that  a certain  occupation  — that  of  watch-mak- 
ing— was  so  safe  that  it  could  be  tolerated  in  a hollow- walled 
building  ; and,  when  the  fire  occurred,  it  cost  us  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  : whereas,  in  a building  of  proper  and  cheaper 
construction,  the  loss  would  not  have  been  five  thousand 
dollars. 

Bear  in  mind,  gentlemen,  I am  propounding  no  unproved 
theory.  I am  not  suggesting  expensive  and  futile  attempts  at 
’ what  is  called  fire-proof  construction.  I am  merely  giving  you 
facts  based  on  the  observation  and  experience  of  the  officers 
in  charge  of  the  most  successful  system  of  fire  insurance  in  the 
world,  — a system  in  which  the  first  object  aimed  at  is  the  pre- 
vention of  loss,  and  not,  as  in  the  common  system  of  insurance, 
to  make  money  for  the  stockholders  by  incurring  risks  rather 
than  by  preventing  them. 

' From  the  point  of  view  of  the  factory  mutual  underwriters, 
there  is  scarcely  a commercial  warehouse,  store,  or  shop  in 
this  country,  that  is  as  safely  constructed  as  it  might  have  been 
'for  the  same  cost ; and  r large  portion  of  them  could  have  been 
made  substantially  safe  if  some  of  the  money  expended  in  use- 
less, and  often  in  bad  attempts  at  architectural  effect,  internal 
and  external,  had  been  applied  to  true  methods  and  for  ade- 
quate means  of  preventing  loss.  Many  of  the  modes  of  inter- 
nal construction,  adopted  for  merely  architectural  or  decorative 
effect,  are  themselves  the  cause  of  danger  and  of  excessive  loss. 

It  has  been  contended  that  the  fault  lies  with  owners,  and 
not  with  architects  and  builders,  and  this  is  true  in  part,  but 
not  wholly.  Buildings  can  be  designated  in  this  and  other 
cities  where  excessive  expenditures  have  been  made,  many  of 
them  having  reference  to  danger  of  fire,  and  yet  where  the  most 
ordinary  precautions  have  been  neglected.  I can  point  out  to 
you  buildings  in  which  costly  fires  have  occurred,  where  the 
stairways  are  of  stone  and  the  roofs  of  iron,  but  where  interior 
party  walls  have  been  furred  off  with  wood,  and  open  elevators 
of  the  most  dangerous  construction  have  been  the  cause  of 
heavy  loss. 

You  all  know  the  danger  of  granite,  full  as  it  is  of  water  in 
the  hygroscopic  form,  and  liable  to  be  converted  into  gravel  and 


10 


sand  by  a degree  of  heat  that  would  have  no  effect  at  all  on  an 
oak  plank  or  post  sheathed  with  tin,  or  protected  by  a coat  of 
plaster  on  wire  lath.  A stairway  of  granite  or  marble,  in  a 
building  in  which  the  adjacent  walls  and  finish  ai  e of  wood,  or 
in  which  the  contents  are  combustible,  is  dangerous  to  firemen. 
A much  safer  and  less  destructible  stairway  may  be  constructed' 
of  plank  and  iron,  properly  protected  on  the  underside  with 
wire  and  plaster. 

You  all  know  that  an  incombustible  shell  often  becomes  an 
oven,  in  which  the  combustible  structure  within  or  the  combus- 
tible contents  are  consumed  as  in  an  oven,  under  a heavy  draught 
of  air  passing  through  windows  and  doors,  and  out  through  the 
thin  and  miserable  board  roofs  with  which  very  many  brick, 
stone,  and  iron  buildings  are  covered.  ' 

From  the  stand-point  of  the  mutual  underwriter,  the  lesson 
needed  to  be  learned  by  those  who  build  city  structures  is  the 
right  disposition  and  use  of  timber  and  plank  with  carefully 
protected  use  of  iron. 

Let  us  assume  the  simplest  problem : an  isolated  storehouse 
for  cotton  or  wool,  free  from  any  danger  from  the  proximity  of 
other  buildings.  Let  this  problem  be  presented  to  an  ordinary 
architect  with  the  request  that  he  shall  make  a safe  building, 
and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  will  specify  brick  walls,  iron 
posts,  iron  doors  ; often  a roof  of  iron,  or  else  a roof  of  matched 
boards  one  inch  thick,  supported  on  two-inch  plank  rafters,  to  be 
covered  with  gravel  or  tin.  In  every  point  he  will  be  wrong : 
he  will  ignore  the  danger  within.  It  will  not  occur  to  him  that 
such  a building  is  nothing  but  an  oven ; that  the  iron  will  warp 
or  curl  in  the  first  five  minutes  of  exposure  to  very  moderate 
heat  from  the  burning  of  the  contents,  or  that  the  thin  roof  will 
soon  be  full  of  holes  making  good  draughts,  while  the  brick 
walls  and  iron  shutters  keep  the  firemen  away  from  the  fire. 

We  should  make  this  plan  in  an  utterly  different  way.  We 
should  prescribe  a frame  for  sides  and  roof  of  heavy  timber ; 
but  in  the  timbers  of  the  roof  there  would  be  no  more  material 
than  in  the  rafters  customarily  used. 

Upon  the  roof-timbers  we  should  place  two  to  three  inch 
plank,  laid  flat,  tongued  and  splined,  slow  to  burn  through, 
and  making  a safe  deck  on  which  firemen  may  work  for  a long 
time  ; oak  posts  ; the  sides  of  tlfin  boards  laid  clapboard  fashion, 
or,  if  appearances  are  not  considered,  shingled.  If  shingled  in 


11 


mortar,  such  a building  is  almost  fire-proof  from  without.  Such 
sides  may  be  easily  tom  away  with  fire-hooks,  and  the  contents 
reached  at  any  point. 

If  the  proximity  of  adjacent  buildings  or  appearances  require 
the  use  of  brick  for  the  walls,  we  would  prescribe  the  solid 
plank  roof,  the  oak  posts,  wide  doors  on  each  accessible  side 
made  of  two  thicknesses  of  one-inch  boards  covered  or  sheathed 
with  tin. 

From  this  example  the  whole  case  may  be  understood. 
There  is  practically  no  such  thing  as  a fire-proof  building. 
Brick  comes  nearer  to  being  a fire-proof  material  than  any  other 
substance ; but  even  an  iron  furnace  lined  with  fire-brick  may 
be  destroyed  by  fire.  Iron  is  treacherous  in  the  extreme,  and 
almost  worthless  in  many  places  where  it  is  commonly  used. 
Granite  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  of  all  materials,  marble 
nearly  as  bad,  and  sandstone  not  much  better. 

The  much-abused  stucco  made  of  calcined  plaster,  so  repug- 
nant to  the  taste  of  the  sesthetic  architect,  is  one  of  the  safest 
and  most  valuable  materials  to  check  the  spread  of  fire  ; and 
good  solid  wood  may  be  so  used  for  interior  construction,  that 
instead  of  screening  fire  from  Avater,  and  providing  the  easiest 
and  speediest  way  for  a fire  to  spread  throughout  a building,  it 
will  hold  a fire  in  the  room  where  it  starts  until  even  an  ineffi- 
cient fire-department  has  time  to  put  it  out. 

Another  common  waste  of  money  in  city  warehouses  is  in 
the  provision  made  for  inside  stand-pipes  and  fire-apparatus. 
Such  fittings  may  be  of  the  utmost  service ; but,  as  a rule,  they 
are  a mere  delusion  and  sham. 

Private  fire-apparatus,  in  order  to  be  of  any  material  use,  must 
be  in  the  charge  of  a private  fire-department  adequately  trained 
and  accustomed  to  act  together.  It  is  seldom  of  any  service  to 
the  public  fire-department,  because  they  can  adjust  their  own 
apparatus  much  more  quickly.  How  often  do  you  see  the 
hose  on  an  inside  stand-pipe  wound  round  the  neck  of  the  hy- 
drant ! from  which  it  would  take  about  ten  minutes  to  unwind 
it,  and  then  as  many  more  to  untwist  it. 

Do  not  think  I undervalue  private  fire-apparatus,  however. 
It  is  the  very  key  to  our  success  as  mutual  underwriters  ; but  in 
all  our  factories  we  have  men,  like  yourselves,  competent  to 
direct  its  use,  with  trained  men  under  them.  There  is  no  sub- 
stitute for  brains.  Our  heaviest  losses  have  occurred  in  prem- 


12 


ises  furnished  with  the  most  adequate  apparatus,  all  of  which 
has  broken  down  from  unskilful  use,  for  want  of  a chief. 

You  may  build  as  safely  as  you  may ; you  may  provide  the 
best  apparatus  public  or  private  for  extinguishing  fires  that  can 
be  devised ; you  may  have  the  most  perfect  and  the  strongest 
S3^stem  of  underwriting ; and  you  may  have  the  most  capable 
men  to  constitute  your  corps  of  firemen,  — yet  fires  will  happen, 
and  the  heaviest  losses  will  occur,  if  the  one  man  is  missing,  if 
the  chief  is  not  there.  If  the  steady  head  is  not  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  right  man,  who  controls  the  whole  service,  all  the 
rest  goes  for  nothing.  Your  service,  gentlemen,  can  never  be 
dispensed  with  ; but,  the  more  adequate  the  measures  taken  to 
provide  you  with  the  tools  of  your  trade,  the  more  judgment, 
coolness,  courage,  and  occasional  audacity  will  you  be  called 
upon  to  exert. 

But  now  jmu  may  say  to  me,  “ You  have  pictured  the  dan- 
gers with  which  we  are  called  upon  to  contend ; you  have  put 
into  words,  without  exaggeration  or  malice,  the  faults  and  fol- 
lies, the  criminal  stupidity  and  negligence,  by  which  lives  and 
property  are  endangered  and  lost ; you  have  recorded  the  waste 
of  fire  that  causes  every  year  in  the  loss  and  expense  a tax  upon 
the  whole  community  much  greater  than  the  cost  of  sustaining 
the  largest  standing  army  maintained  by  any  nation  in  Europe, 
being  a tax,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
million  to  one  hundred  and  fift}^  million  dollars : but  what  are 
the  remedies?  It  is  easy  to  find  fault,  but  almost  as  useless  as 
it  is  easy,  unless  a way  to  avoid  the  faults  can  be  indicated  at 
the  same  time.” 

In  this  rejoinder  you  are  right ; and  my  criticism  of  the 
present  methods  of  building  and  protecting  cities  would  be 
nothing  but  an  arrogant  impertinence,  if  I were  not  in  some 
degree  prepared  to  meet  your  comment. 

I say,  in  some  degree  prepared,  because  the  complete  remedy 
for  all  these  faults  must  be  the  slow  evolution  of  more  than  one 
generation. 

It  has  taken  more  than  forty  years  to  bring  the  right  con- 
struction of  the  textile  factory,  the  paper-mill,  and  the  machine- 
shop  to  its  present  rule,  and  to  perfect  the  apparatus  and  means 
of  preventing  loss  from  the  fires  that  must  occur  in  them ; yet 
hardly  a month  passes  without  some  new  and  instructive  fact 
coming  to  our  notice,  or  some  new  method  proving  to  be  expe- 
dient. 


13 


You  know  the  hazard  of  the  factories  that  we  insure  in  the 
factory  mutuals,  — the  almost  explosive  nature  of  cotton-fibre  in 
the  picker  and  card  rooms;  the  extreme  danger  of  wool  saturated 
with  oil ; the  liability  to  heated  bearings  in  machinery  operating 
at  the  highest  speed ; the  hazard  of  raw  material  in  the  pro- 
cesses of  drying;  the  spontaneous  combustion  even  of  the  goods 
themselves  from  the  oxydation  of  the  dye-stuffs  used  in  them : 
yet,  subject  as  we  are  to  all  these  extra  hazards,  our  losses  since 
I became  president  of  the  company  — a period  of  two  years  and 
eight  months  — have  been  only  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
thousand  dollars  on  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  million  dol- 
lars of  risks  insured,  absorbing  only  a little  more  than  ten  hun- 
dredths of  one  per  cent  on  the  amount  of  the  risks  taken. 

During  the  whole  period  in  which  the  company  has  existed, 
and  while  its  members  and  officers  were  learning  how  to  build 
and  how  to  protect  the  property,  the  cost  of  insurance  has  been 
less  than  one  third  of  one  per  cent;  and  the  amount  of  pre- 
mium returned  to  the  members,  after  deducting  all  losses  and 
expenses,  even  though  levied  at  rates  much  less  than  any  stock 
companies  ever  did  charge,  or  could  ever  have  afforded  to  charge 
under  their  system  of  mere  betting  against  the  chances  of  loss 
in  badly  built  and  badly  guarded  buildings,  — I say  our  actual 
returns  in  money,  if  annually  compounded  at  six  per  cent  in- 
terest, gives  back  to  the  members  the  whole  insurable  value 
of  their  property  in  thirt3^-five  years. 

This  success  has  been  secured,  not  by  statute,  not  by  means 
of  building  acts  and  compulsory  methods,  but  through  the 
simple  force  of  the  self-interest  of  the  members  themselves. 
We  do  not  say  to  them,  “ You  must  do  this  or  that.”  We  have 
no  control  over  their  acts.  They  may  build  in  any  way  they 
please  ; they  may  let  dangerous  waste  accumulate,  and  neglect  * 
their  pumps  and  hydrants.  All  that  we  can  do,  when  our  inspect- 
ors find  out  these  faults  in  their  quarterly  inspections,  is  to 
write  to  the  manager,  “ Please  return  the  policy  of  insurance 
issued  by  this  company,  on  such  a day,  after  which  your  un- 
earned premium  will  be  returned  to  you,  and  you  will  cease  to 
be  a member  of  this  compan3\” 

No  manufacturer  of  any  standing  can  afford  to  incur  the  risk 
of  such  a notice.  It  is  cheaper  for  him  to  remedy  the  faults  to 
which  his  notice  has  been  called  by  the  inspector,  and  to  improve 
his  apparatus  if  it  is  defective.  This  method  cannot,  perhaps, 


14 


be  applied  to  the  concentrated  risks  of  great  cities ; but  there 
are  many  points  suggested  by  it  that  can  be  so  applied,  as  well 
as  some  other  methods. 

1.  Adequate  building  acts  can  be  drawn  so  as  to  cover  the 
grosser  faults  of  construction.  This  is  about  all  that  can  be 
done  by  statute. 

2.  In  place  of  the  private  examination,  such  as  we  make, 
there  should  be  a public  inquest  by  a competent  expert  as  to 
the  cause  and  course  of  every  fire.  Such  an  officer  should  be 
empowered  to  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  and  to  take 
testimony;  to  summon  special  assistants  in  obscure  cases;  and 
should  be  bound  to  publish  officially  a statement  of  all  the  facts 
in  each  case,  with  names  of  owners,  tenants,  and  occupants. 

In  this  way  a wholesome  public  opinion  would  be  created; 
and  he  who  from  ignorance  or  greed  should  expose  life  and 
property  to  unnecessary  risk  would  be  held  to  a stern  account. 

3.  If  the  bad  construction  and  special  points  of  danger  to 
particular  buildings  are  now  well  known  to  the  chief  and  to 
the  district  engineers,  even  before  the  inevitable  fire  occurs;,  if, 
as  they  do,  tiiey  have  their  plans  laid  as  if  for  a battle  ; and  if, 
as  they  do,  they  marshal  their  forces  to  meet  a well-known  but 
perfectly  avoidable  danger,  — why  should  there  not  be  some  or- 
ganized method  by  which  owners,  builders,  and  architects  could 
also  be  informed  in  advance  of  the  prospective  hazard  ? Their 
own  interest  would  soon  bring  them  to  a habit  of  consulting 
such  an  officer  as  soon  as  the  custom  had  become  established. 
I beg  to  suggest  to  you  as  a practical  measure  that  you  prepare 
a memorial  to  be  sent  to  the  Legislature  of  each  of  your  respec- 
tive States,  asking  the  passage  of  promissive  acts  under  which 
every  city,  and  perhaps  each  county,  may  appoint  a fire-marshal 
to  investigate  every  fire  and  publish  the  results  of  such  an  in- 
quest, and  under  which  each  town  or  city  may  empower  its 
fire-engineers  to  watch  the  construction  of  buildings  and  advise 
methods  of  safety. 

No  man  would  be  fool  enough,  after  he  had  been  warned,  to 
put  granite  posts  to  support  a basement-floor  and  the  whole 
structure  above  it ; as  in  that  fatal  case  in  New  York,  where 
brave  men  met  their  fearful  death  in  consequence  of  the  crimi- 
nal ignorance  of  those  who  owned,  planned,  and  built  the  ware- 
house. 

No  man  would  be  so  foolish,  after  he  had  been  informed  of 


15 


the  difference,  as  to  lay  a thin  board  roof  on  plank  rafters 
eighteen  inches  or  two  feet  on  centres,  unsafe  and  unfit  to  keep 
out  heat  and  cold,  when,  by  using  the  same  quantity  of  material 
disposed  in  a proper  way  at  the  same  or  less  cost,  he  could 
make  a solid  deck-roof  two  and  a half  inches  thick,  substantially 
impervious  to  heat  and  cold. 

No  owner  would  be  so  idiotic  as  to  sheathe  an  elevator-shaft 
with  thin  boards,  and  provide  a wooden  flue  for  fire  behind 
them,  after  his  attention  had  once  been  called  to  the  stupidity 
of  such  a method;  nor  would  he  ever  employ  a second  time  an 
architect  who  had  misled  him  into  such  a blunder,  however 
effective  the  elevation  of  the  building  might  be,  or  however  true 
to  high  art  the  design  of  the  terra-cotta  tiles  with  which  the 
front  of  the  fire-trap  was  decorated. 

No  owner  or  tenant  would  ever  dare  employ  women  and 
children,  by  scores  or  hundreds,  on  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  floors, 
at  the  head  of  single  flights  of  combustible  stairways,  three  feet 
wide  on  the  treads,  after  the  danger  to  his  own  pocket  had 
been  called  to  his  attention.  Yet  some  of  the  subscribers  to 
the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  are  and 
have  been  the  owners  of  such  premises  in  this  city. 

No  owner  would  ever  permit  himself  or  his  tenant  to  store 
combustible  goods  or  to  follow  dangerous  occupations  in  the 
upper  stories  of  our  high  city  buildings,  without  adequate  pro- 
vision for  checking  a fire  at  its  Yery  beginning,  after  he  had 
been  instructed  how  to  fit  the  premises  with  automatic  sprink- 
lers or  other  means  of  preventing  loss,  and  had  learned  how 
cheap  and  how  effective  such  appliances  were. 

No  sane  person  would  fail  to  cut  off  the  wooden  flues  from 
intercommunication  with  each  other  in  buildings  where  hollow 
walls  and  ceiled  floors  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  if  his  attention 
had  once  been  called  to  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be  done 
at  very  little  cost.  Especially  would  this  be  true  in  dwelling- 
houses  or  warehouses  intended  to  be  occupied  by  their  owners. 

In  calling  these  interspaces  or  hollow  spaces  in  walls  and 
floors  by  the  name  of  “ flues,”  persons  who  are  not  in  the  habit 
of  thinking  about  fires  may  be  confused. 

If  we  consider  the  relation  to  each  other  of  all  the  walls, 
floors,  and  roof  of  a brick  or  stone  building  of  common  con- 
struction, we  find  theni  connected  not  only  by  the  contact  of 
the  solid  materials,  but  also  by  air-passages  or  spaces,  which  I 
have  called  “flues.” 


16 


These  air-spaces  have  their  use  and  also  their  danger ; and 
the  utter  failure  of  the  great  majorit}^  of  so-called  architects  is 
in  their  want  of  discrimination  in  respect  to  use  and  danger. 

An  air-space  between  the  outer  wall  of  a building  composed 
of  brick  or  stone,  and  the  inner  structure  composed  of  timber 
and  sheathing  or  plastering,  is  often,  perhaps  always,  a necessity 
in  dwelling-houses  and  in  shops  that  must  be  expensively 
finished  in  order  to  be  adapted  to  their  use  ; but  in  most  whole- 
sale warehouses  even  such  an  air-space  in  the  outer  wall  is 
not  required,  and  in  a factory  it  is  worse  than  useless. 

But  even  these  air-spaces  should  contain  only  still  or  dead  air, 
and  not  circulating  air,  in  order  that  they  may  serve  the  purpose 
of  a non-conductor  of  heat  and  cold,  or  of  moisture,  which  con- 
stitutes their  use.  Yet  in  nine  buildings  out  of  ten  there  is  an 
open  passage  from  the  air-spaces  of  the  outer  walls  to  those  on 
the  party  walls,  thence  to  those  in  the  floors  and  to  those  in  the 
roof ; so  that  there  is  an  almost  unobstructed  circulation  of  air, 
rats,  mice,  or  fire. 

Most  architects  give  so  little  consideration  to  this  point,  that 
they  sacrifice  the  main  object  of  the  air-space  in  greater  part 
by  a mode  of  construction  that  assures  the  maximum  of  danger 
in  case  of  fire. 

But,  even  where  air-spaces  are  required  on  outer  walls,  they 
are  intolerable  on  party  walls  of  shops  and  warehouses,  or  even 
in  dwelling-houses  where  the  party  walls  are  of  moderately  good 
construction.  Such  walls  can  be  plastered  solid  without  harm, 
as  there  is  no  liability  to  the  condensation  of  moisture  on  them. 
If  sheathing  is  required  on  party  walls,  it  can  be  so  put  on  that 
no  fire  can  possibly  pass  behind  it ; or  the  wall  can  be  finished 
with  wire  lath  and  plastering  at  as  low  a cost  as  for  sheathing. 

In  respect  to  floors,  the  air-space  is  alleged  to  be  needed  in 
dwelling-houses  and  office-buildings  to  deaden  sound  ; but  sound 
can  be  deadened  by  putting  sheathing-felt  between  the  plank 
and  boards  of  a solid  floor  constructed  on  the  factory  plan. 

Air-spaces  in  floors  are,  however,  subject  to  comparatively 
little  objection  if  they  are  not  connected  with  vertical  air-spaces, 
or  flues,  in  the  walls. 

If  wire  lath  is  used  for  ceilings,  and  the  air-space  in  the  floor 
is  not  connected  with  vertical  flues,  I suppose  such  a construc- 
tion is  actually  safer  than  the  open  construction  on  the  factory 
plan,  if  the  building  is  not  to  be  used  for  manufacturing.  In 
that  case  no  hollow  floor  can  be  tolerated. 


17 


In  fact,  I suppose  the  nearest  approach  to  fire-proof  construc- 
tion, or  to  a construction  in  which  the  combustion  of  the  con- 
tents would  impair  the  buildiDg  least,  would  be  a building 
constructed,  as  to  the  outer  walls,  of  brick ; the  windows  pro- 
tected with  wooden  shutters  covered  with  tin ; the  walls 
plastered  inside  on  wire ; the  floors  and  stairways  of  timber, 
three-inch  plank,  and  one-iuch  top  boards ; the  ceilings  plas- 
tered on  wire,  the  wire  following  the  line  of  the  timber  and 
plank,  the  top  boards  laid  in  mortar,  and  the  stairways  plastered 
on  wire ; each  floor  cut  off  from  the  one  below  by  passage-way 
and  wooden  doors  both  sheathed  with  tin;  elevators  to  be  in 
brick  shafts,  furnished  with  self-closing  hatches,  and  lighted 
from  above  by  a skylight  of  two  thin  plates  of  glass  set  in  one 
sash,  with  wire  netting  between  the  plates. 

Such  a sliaft  would  serve  as  a safe  flue  in  case  a fire  should 
ever  get  into  it,  and  the  skylight  would  not  expose  firemen  to 
the  danger  that  ensues  from  the  use  of  thick  plates  of  glass 
when  broken  by  heat ; while  the  wire  netting  would  keep  out 
sparks  from  adjacent  fires  quite  as  effectively  as  thick  glass,  or 
more  so. 

I mean  to  say  that  by  the  right  disposition  of  timber  and 
plank  (boards  being  used  only  for  top  floors),  and  by  the  com- 
mon-sense use  of  wire  lath,  plastering,  and  tin,  a city  warehouse 
can  be  built  in  which  the  ordinary  contents  of  any  floor  could 
be  separately  consumed  to  the  extent  to  which  combustion 
could  possibly  reach  before  a moderately  effective  fire-depart- 
ment would  get  into  action,  and  with  less  injury  to  the  building 
from  fire  or  water  than  if  only  brick  and  iron  were  used. 

In  other  words,  we  have  reached  the  conviction  that  the 
abundance  of  wood  in  the  United  States  may  not  only  be  made 
to  serve  economy  in  construction,  but  may  be  made  as  safe  as 
the  so-called  fire-proof  buildings  of  Europe,  if  architects  and 
builders  are  rightly  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  material. 
There  is  less  loss  in  the  cotton  factories  of  New  England  than 
in  those  of  Lancashire,  although  the  latter  are  mostly  of  the 
so-called  fire-proof  construction,  because  our  means  of  prevent- 
ing the  extension  of  a fire  are  better,  and  our  mills  are  immeas- 
urably cleaner. 

I venture  to  ask  you,  if  a discussion  ensues  upon  this  paper, 
if  you  are  not  subjected  to  greater  danger  in  dealing  with  fires, 
from  the  ignorant  use  of  stone  and  iron,  than  you  are  from  the 


18 


use  of  wood  for  inside^  purposes,  where  a moderate  degree,  of 
skill  has  been  used  in  the  disposition  of  the  wood  ; and  also  if 
you  are  not  more  retarded  than  aided  by  the  use  of  iron  for 
roofs,  doors,  and  shutters. 

It  may  be  true  that,  if  the  demand  were  made  for  the  materials 
for  the  building  that  I have  described,  their  unusual  sizes  and 
shapes  might  cause  a single  building  to  be  more  costly  than  the 
common  combustible  construction  ; but  as  soon  as  attention  is 
given  to  the  subject,  and  common  sense  displaces  the  present 
bad  custom,  I cannot  doubt  that  incombustible  construction 
will  be  the  cheapest,  because  there  will  then  be  a demand  for 
materials  cut  in  such  form  as  to  adapt  them  to  safe  use. 

..In  expressing  these  opinions  as  to  the  feasibility  of  construct- 
ing very  safe  buildings,  in  which  wood  may  be  a component 
material  to  as  great  or  even  a greater  extent  than  at  present,  I 
do  not,  of  course,  intend  to  compare  these  structures  with  post- 
offices,  custom-houses,  or  other  government  buildings,  nor  with 
such  structures  as  have  been  erected  by  life-insurance  compa- 
nies, in  which  classes  of  structure  the  prime  cost  appears  to  be 
little  regarded. 

I merely  give  the  judgment  of  myself,  based  on  a compilation 
of  results,  and  of  the  officers  and  inspectors  of  factory  mutual- 
insurance  companies,  based  on  many  years  of  observation  and 
experience,  that  brick,  timber,  plaster,  and  tin  may  be  so  com- 
bined in  a structure  for  any  ordinary  purpose  as  to  make  even 
the  complete  destruction  of  one  building  very  improbable,  and 
a great  conflagration  substantially  impossible. 

If  a fire-engineer  were  only  authorized  and  instructed  to 
watch  the  construction  of  warehouses,  and  to  advise  the  owners 
not  to  commit  the  faults  against  which  he  is  now  obliged  to 
prepare  to  defend  them  after  they  are  committed,  surely  no 
person  of  sufficient  common  sense  to  have  become  the  owner  of 
real  estate  could  disregard  the  warning.  And  if  it  became  the 
practice  to  watch  the  modes  of  construction,  as  the  mutual 
underwriters  watch  the  building  of  the  factories  which  they  are 
to  insure,  incompetent  architects  would  soon  cease  to  be 
employed,  and  careless  builders  would  no  longer  leave  combus- 
tible rubbish  in  concealed  spaces. 

4.  I am  not  without  hope  of  a better  method  of  supervision  by 
underwriters.  The  futile  attempt  to  supervise  the  contract  of 
insurance  tlirough  State  commissioners  will  some  time  be  given 


19 


r 


lip.  When  that  time  comes,  weak  insurance  companies  will  no 
longer  be  able  to  compete  with  strong  ones,  being  enabled  to  do 
so  only  because  they  have  met  a fallacious  standard  of  solvency, 
and  received  a qumi  guaranty  of  the  State  in  their  license  to  do 
business  within  its  limits. 

Strong  companies  may  then  impose  conditions,  charge  ade- 
quate rates,  and  have  a margin  for  abatement  of  rate  when 
measures  of  protection  are  taken. 

It  may  then  become  more  profitable  for  owners  to  build  safe 
buildings,  and  attend  to  safety  in  their  use,  than  to  rely  upon 
an  insurance  company  for  indemnity.  I would  even  say  that 
while  there  would  be  great  hardship  to  individuals,  and  great 
interference  with  credit,  if  all  contracts  of  insurance,  except 
upon  the  mutual  sj^stem,  were  prohibited  by  law,  I am^  satisfied 
that  there  would  be  a national  saving. 

I Avould  therefore  cease  to  give  any  State  supervision  to  this 
contract ; and  then  it  would  be  as  important  for  the  assured  to 
examine  into  the  character  and  standing  of  their  underwriters, 
as  it  is  in  regard  to  their  tenants  or  other  customers. 

I know  of  no  branch  of  business  to  which  so  little  care  and 
attention  is  commonly  given,  or  that  is  so  expensively  and 
wastefully  conducted,  as  that  of  insurance  ; and  I can  see  no 
remedy  until  States  give  up  the  futile  undertaking  of  protecting 
the  contract  by  special  supervision,  except  to  the  extent  of  re- 
quiring quarterly  statements  to  be  ihade  and  publicly  adver- 
tised in  newspapers  selected  for  the  purpose. 

But  this  matter  is  only  indirectly  before  you.  I refer  to  it 
because  I am  inclined  to  attribute  the  excessive  losses  by  fire  in 
this  country  to  an  apparently  cheap,  but  really  very  costly  and 
unfit  method  of  insurance. 

5.  Your  own  departments  may  be  supplemented  by  addi- 
tional apparatus,  subject  to  your  own  control.  I have  had  the 
honor  of  suggesting  a plan  for  the  protection  of  the  high,  fiat- 
roofed  warehouses,  now  so  common  in  all  cities,  by  conducting 
the  water  through  outside  stand-pipes,  and  thence  through  a 
horizontal  pipe-service  upon  the  roofs,  — furnished  with  frequent 
hydrants  at  the  party  or  parapet  walls  dividing  the 'warehouses 
from  each  other  ; such  roof-service  to  be  connected  from  block  to 
block,  and  served  either  by  the  pressure  of  water  from  a high 
reservoir,  or  by  a steam  fire-engine  coupled  on  at  the  base  of  the 
stand-pipe.  My  plan  was  rejected  by  the  committee  on  fire- 


20 


departments  and  by  the  city  council,  although  approved  by 
the  fire-commissioners  ; but  yet  I say  I had  the  honor  of  pre- 
senting it.  I claim  it  as  an  honor,  because  of  the  reasons 
assigned  for  its  rejection. 

The  first  reason  published  was,  that,  if  the  plan  was  adopted, 
the  city  would  become  so  safe  as  to  cause  the  withdrawal  of 
insurance  capital  from  it. 

The  second  reason,  given  by  the  president  of  an  insurance 
company,  was,  that,  if  it  was  adopted,  the  water  would  be  let  on 
the  fire  so  quickly  from  above,  that  the  protective  department 
would  not  have  time  to  cover  the  goods  below  with  their  rubber 
blankets,  and  the  water  damage  would  be  excessive. 

• The  third  reason  — which,  I was  credibly  informed,  was  the 
one  that  caused  the  rejection  of  a specific  proposal  to  the  city 
government,  on  my  part,  to  protect  one  block  of  about  three- 
quarters  of  an  acre  in  extent  of  flat  roofs  at  a cost  of  twelve 
hundred  dollars — was,  that  the  service  would  prove  so  com- 
pletely effective,  that  the  city  would  be  obliged  to  carry  it  out 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  area  of  high  buildings,  about 
fifty  acres  in  extent. 

6.  Tenants  and  occupants  are  learning  to  protect  themselves 
better;  the  combinations  for  electric  fire-alarms  are  extending; 
and  the  Parmalee  automatic  sprinkler  — the  most  effective 
instrument  for  extinguishing  fire  that  there  is  in  existence 
to-day  — is  beginning  to  be  introduced  in  some  premises  besides 
those  that  are  insured  in  the  mutual  companies,  in  spite  of  the 
tacit  or  active  opposition  of  that  class  of  underwriters  — small, 
I hope,  in  number  — who  discourage  all  improvement  in  this 
direction,  and  who  prefer  the  chances  of  betting  on  bad  risks  to 
the  more  certain  prospect  of  smaller  immediate  gains  from  safer 
methods. 

These  sprinklers  are  generally  used,  of  course,  as  a self-oper- 
ating fire-extinguisher,  with  water  standing  in  the  system  of 
pipes  to  which  they  are  attached,  ready  for  distribution  by  the 
action  of  heat ; but  I wish  especially  to  suggest  to  you  their  use 
as  a means  of  distributing  water  into  the  upper  stories  of  high 
buildings  from  your  steam  fire-engines. 

' The  arrangement  would  consist  of  the  usual  distribution  of 
automatic  sprinklers  in  the  building,  attached  to  a system  of 
pipe,  with  a connection  on  the  main  supply-pipe  at  or  near  the 
m-ouiid  to  which  hose  from  the  steamers  can  be  attached. 

O 


21 


The  great  advantage  of  saving  the  time  necessary  to  gain  ac- 
cess to  such  buildings,  putting  all  the  available  water  just 
where  the  fire  is  and  nowhere  else,  and  this  without  admitting 
air  to  support  combustion,  must  be  apparent  to  you  all.  They 
cannot  waste  any  water,  or  by  any  possibility  delay  or  interfere 
with  any  other  efforts  that  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  save 
property. 

The  admitted  need  of  some  more  certain  and  effective  means 
of  extinguishing  fire  in  the  more  inaccessible  portions  of  our 
lofty  city  buildings,  seems  to  justify  attention  to  an  appliance 
which  has  repeatedly  proved  itself  a success  by  practical  work- 
ing. 

7.  The  fact  is  beginning  to  be  understood  that  all  insurance 
is  but  a system  of  mutual  protection,  — that  the  capital  of  a 
stock  company  only  serves  as  a guaranty,  the  premiums  being 
the  real  fund  provided  for  indemnity.  When  this  becomes  clear, 
men  begin  to  ask  themselves  whether  it  is  not  a clumsy  method 
of  co-operation,  in  which  thirty  to  forty  per  cent  of  the  pre- 
mium or  indemnity  fund  is  absorbed  on  the  average  by  ex- 
penses, and  only  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent  — often  only  thirty  to 
forty  — is  available  for  indemnity. 

Then  comes  the  question.  Cannot  a system  be  established  by 
which  the  whole  benefit  of  the  premiums  may  be  enjoyed  by 
those  who  pay  them  ? The  answer  is  found  as  yet  only  in  a 
mutual  system  in  which  the  prevention  of  fire  is  the  paramount 
object ; but  there  are  other  methods  that  are  sure  to  be  adopted 
ere  long.  The  present  wasteful  method  cannot  long  be  toler- 
ated ; and  the  next  great  conflagration,  after  it  has  bankrupted 
a third  or  a half  of  the  companies  now  struggling  for  existence, 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  sufficient  to  assure  reform. 

If  that  fire  strikes  the  dry-goods  district  in  New  York,  it  will 
be  a costly  lesson,  against  which  provision  ought  now  to  be 
made. 

The  equipment  of  a cotton  factory  with  means  of  preventing 
destructive  fire  usually  costs  a sum  equal  to  one  to  two  3^ears’ 
premiums  of  insurance  on  the  premises  at  the  regular  rates. 
The  average  dividends  in  the  mutual  offices  for  two  years,  or  at 
the  utmost  for  three,  rarely  fail  to  reimburse  the  cost  of  prepar- 
ing buildings  for  admission  when  they  are  rightly  constructed. 
It  is  safe  to  affirm,  that,  if  the  young  engineers  who  are  employed 
in  the  work  of  inspection  in  the  compan^^  under  my  charge 


22 


could  have  the  use  of  the  sum  of  money  paid  for  one  year  for 
the  insurance  in  the  dry-goods  district  of  New  York  or  in  the 
rebuilt  burnt  district  of  Boston,  they  could  make  a great  con- 
flagration impossible,  and  witli  two  years’  premiums  they  could 
make  the  total  destruction  of  a single  building  almost  equally 
impossible. 

In  the  last  seven  years  we  have  had  but  four  total  losses,  and 
none  of  these  were  in  the  main  factory  buildings.  The  propor- 
tion of  loss  in  fires  on  which  we  have  been  called  to  pay  over  a 
thousand  dollars  has  been  less  than  one-half  the  amount  insured. 

I have  computed,  in  a rough  way,  that  this  company  has 
insured  property  in  thirty  years  equal  to  thirty  thousand  sepa- 
rate risks  insured  for  one  year ; or,  rather,  we  have  insured  ten 
thousand  risks  in  groups  of  three  buildings,  each  within  less 
than  one  hundred  feet  of  the  other. 

Fire  has  been  prevented  from  extending  from  one  detached 
building  to  another  of  those  insured  by  us,  with  one  single 
exception ; fire  has  been  communicated  from  other  buildings  to 
those  insured  by  us  in  two  cases  only.  In  all  three  of  these 
instances  adequate  apparatus  was  misused  or  broken  for  want 
of  a competent  chief  to  control  it. 

In  the  whole  period,  since  the  establishment  of  the  company 
in  1855,  we  have  had  but  twenty-four  total  losses  of  the  whole 
amount  insured  on  any  one  risk. 

I give  3mu  these  facts  from  our  own  experience  merely  to 
prove  the  efBciency  of  good  apparatus,  worked  by  trained  men 
under  competent  chiefs,  in  saving  property  of  a most  hazardous 
kind.  I do  not  give  them  in  order  to  advertise  the  company  or 
the  system ; for  that  we  never  do. 

I assume  that  I really  owe  the  honor  of  addressing  you  only 
to  the  fact  that  I hold  the  position  of  president  of  the  Boston 
Manufacturers’  Mutual  Fire-Insurance  Company,  and  that  I 
have  thereby  been  enabled  to  compile  the  results  of  the  ex-  ' 
peiience  of  that  and  other  companies.  I can  claim  no  other 
qualification.  My  own  personal  and  official  experience  has  not 
been  long,  although  I have  been  interested  as  a director  and 
member  for  very  many  years. 

In  my  own  judgment,  the  one  practical  idea  that  I have  pre- 
sented to  you  is  the  suggestion  that  measures  shall  be  taken  to 
make  it  a part  of  the  official  duties  of  fire-engineers  and  their 
assistants  to  observe  the  construction  of  buildings  in  process  of 


23 


erection ; to  take  note  of  the  faults  and  dangers,  and  of  the 
insufficient  means  of  egress  for  operatives  employed  therein  ; 
to  make  and  maintain  a record  of  the  facts  ; and  to  call  the 
attention  of  owners,  builders,  and  architects  to  the  points  of 
danger  and  of  false  construction  at  the  time  they  are  threatened 
or  actually  committed,  — such  records  to  be  open  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  underwriters  and  their  agents. 

When  the  fires  thereafter  occur,  the  fault  will  lie  at  the  doors 
of  those  who  might  have  applied  the  remedy.  It  will  make  it 
more  difficult  for  them  to  collect  their  losses;  and  if  they  have 
not  complied  with  the  statute  in  respect  to  the  means  of  escape, 
and  loss  of  life  or  limb  has  happened,  the  record  will  tell  heavily 
against  them  in  the  trials  for  damages. 

I have  little  faith  in  legal  compulsion,  but  the  utmost  faith  in 
the  force  of  public  opinion,  and  in  making  it  for  the  self-interest 
of  the  owners  and  occupants  of  estates  to  protect  themselves. 

It  is  by  such  self-interest  that  we  have  made  cotton  and 
woollen  factories,  paper-mills,  and  machine-shops,  better  risks 
than  stone  churches,  brick  hospitals  and  asylums,  and  iron 
warehouses. 

The  questions  before  you  are  of  national  importance.  The 
annual  cost  of  fires  in  the  United  States,  direct  and  indirect,  is, 
as  I have  stated,  one  hundred  and  thirty  million  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million  dollars  a year. 

The  actual  destruction  by  fire  annually  amounts  to  a sum 
equal  to  the  cost  of  sustaining  the  largest  standing  army  now 
maintained  by  any  nation  in  Europe. 

Can  we  afford  such  a waste  ? If  such  a direct  tax  were  im- 
posed, should  we  bear  it?  Yet  this  tax  is  distributed  with 
unerring  certainty  on  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  this 
broad  land. 

One-half  of  this  sum  at  the  very  least  is  a shameful,  useless, 
and  ignorant  waste. 

How  much  you  save  the  nation  by  your  skill  and  courage,  I 
should  not  dare  compute.  It  would  be  a vast  sum.  Your  de- 
partments are  marked  examples  of  all  that  skill  can  make  them  ; 
but,  while  they  give  the  best  evidence  of  our  capacity  as  a 
nation  to  cope  with  danger  and  provide  against  it,  yet  the  very 
necessit}^  for  your  perfect  work,  and  your  inability,  with  all  your 
force,  skill,  and  courage,  to  prevent  a loss  that  constitutes  the 
heaviest  single  tax  upon  this  nation,  is  either  evidence  of  igno- 


24 


ranee  and  incapacity  in  other  directions,  or  of  criminal  and 
wasteful  negligence. 

> If  we  show  how  to  save  only  one-half  of  the  vast  sum  now 
lost,  we  may  add  to  the  resources  of  the  country  every  year  a 
sum  nearly  equal  to  the  interest  on  the  national  debt.  This  we 
may  do,  I confidently  believe,  by  simple  methods  such  as  I have 
sketched;  and  by  so  doing  we  may  enhance  the  importance  of 
our  own  position ; we  may  add  to  the  dignity  of  our  calling,  if 
not  for  ourselves,  for  those  who  come  after  us ; and  we  may 
thus  serve  our  country,  our  cities,  our  towns,  and  our  neighbors, 
in  the  most  effective  way  that  is  open  to  us. 

Among  the  subjects  assigned  to  special  committees,  I observe 
several  to  which  we  have  been  obliged  to  give  great  attention. 

The  quality  and  durability  of  hose  is  one  of  these.  The  con- 
ditions of  use  of  hose  in  factories  and  by  private  fire-depart- 
ments vary  so  essentially  from  that  of  regular  fire-departments, 
that  our  standard  will  not  fully  serve  your  purpose.  At  the 
same  time  our  tests  may  not  be  without  value  to  you,  and  I 
submit  them.  The  subject  is  still  under  investigation ; but 
some  of  our  methods  take  many  months  of  trial.  The  samples 
tried  are  at  our  office,  where  any  of  you  will  be  welcome. 

We  have  there,  also,  various  models  of  automatic  doors, 
shutters,  and  hatchways,  — tinned  wooden  doors  that  have 
saved  heavy  loss  where  iron  has  failed,  — and  other  matters. 

The  possibility  of  fire  being  caused  b}^  contact  of  wood  with 
steam-pipes  may  also  be  conclusively  proved  to  you  by  many 
examples  that  we  have  gathered. 

Here  is  one,  — a portion  of  the  sill  of  a hotel  in  Woonsocket, 
less  than  one  year  old,  through  which  a heating  pipe  was  carried 
in  contact,  from  a boiler  that  was  never  subjected  to  over 
twelve  pounds  pressure,  and  where  superheated  steam  could 
never  have  been  present.  The  building  was  not  insured  by  us ; 
but  after  the  fire,  which  was  put  out  with  small  loss,  I sent  a 
young  man,  who  cut  this  piece  of  burned  wood  from  the  sill, 
and  mounted  it  on  the  pipe  in  the  exact  manner  in  which  it 
had  been  placed. 

Any  one  who  denies  the  possibility  of  combustion  from  the 
contact  of  wood  with  a steam-heating  pipe  is  an  ignoramus. 

But  there  is  a much  more  serious  and  as  common  a cause  of 
danger  of  fire  from  steam-pipes  used  for  the  distribution  of  heat 
in  factories,  workshops,  and  the  like,  where  they  are  arranged 


25 


in  lines  or  coils  at  the  sides  of  the  rooms,  under  the  win- 
dows. 

This  is,  as  you  are  well  aware,  the  customary  place  for  them ; 
and  when  so  placed  they  are  apt  to  become  encumbered  with 
lint,  shavings,  and  rubbish  of  all  sorts,  especially  behind  work- 
benches. They  also  serve  as  receptacles  for  rags,  brushes,  old 
slippers,  overalls,  and  all  sorts  of  combustible  material;  and 
they  are  a frequent  and  constant  cause  of  fires. 

The  remedy  is  to  place  the  pipes  overhead^  either  on  the  wall 
above  the  windows,  or,  what  is  far  better,  hung  on  brackets  or 
hooks  one  or  two  .feet  below  the  beams,  and  eight  or  ten  feet 
above  the  floor.  When  so  placed,  they  are  in  sight,  and  are  not 
liable  to  become  encumbered  with  combustible  rubbish. 

When  over  the  windows,  they  heat  as  well  as  when  below  in 
all  rooms  where  there  is  even  but  a very  little  shafting  and 
belting  to  start  the  circulation. 

When  hung  in  the  rooms  away  from  the  walls  and  below  the 
beams,  they  are  safer,  cheaper,  and  better  in  every  way. 

You  will  many  of  you  receive  this  statement  with  the  in- 
credulity to  which  we  are  accustomed ; but  I can  assure  you  it 
is  not  an  open  question : the  facts  as  I have  given  them  are 
absolutely  proved. 

This  method  has  been  advised  by  our  vice-president,  Mr. 
William  B.  Whitney,  for  many  years,  and  has  been  adopted  in 
many  first-class  factories. 

Spontaneous  combustion  is  one  of  the  subjects  referred  to  a 
special  committee. 

This  is  a subject  of  grave  interest  to  the  factory  underwriter. 
Oil  and  grease  are  our  great  enemies,  and  have,  in  one  way  or 
another,  been  the  cause  of  about  one-half  our  losses. 

Another  great  danger  of  spontaneous  combustion  is  to  be 
found  in  dyed  yarns  and  goods  in  which  some  of  the  more 
modern  dyes  and  mordants  are  used.  Chromic  acid  and  iron, 
cutch,  gambier,  and  some  of  the  combinations  of  aniline  colors, 
are  very  dangerous.  Rats’  nests  I have  referred  to,  and  I have 
little  doubt  they  are  the  cause  of  many  unexplained  fires. 

For  two  years  past  we  have  been  making  a thorough  scientific 
investigation  of  oil,  both  for  lubrication  and  for  use  on  wool. 

Time  would  not  suffice  me  to  give  you  the  details ; but  it 
may  interest  you  to  know,  that,  while  we  have  entirely  abated 
many  of  the  most  serious  causes  of  danger  in  the  use  of  oil,  we 


26 


have  also  saved  to  our  members  an  annual  sum  more  than  equal 
to  all  the -losses  and  expenses  of  our  company  each  year  for  the 
last  two  years,  such  saving  being  not  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  a year. 

The  introduction  of  the  oils  made  from  petroleum  has  been  in 
many  ways  a great  benefit.  About  one-fonrth  part  of  the  fac- 
tories that  we  insure  are  lighted  with  kerosene  oil.  It  will 
surprise  you  to  learn  that  we  have  never  met  a loss  from  this 
cause,  because  we  see  to  it  that  safe  lamps  and  safe  oils  are  used. 

We  will  not  insure  premises  that  are  lighted  by  the  vapor  of 
gasoline  mixed  with  air,  at  any  rate  whatever. 

The  oils  made  from  petroleum  are  absolutely  free  from  liability 
to  spontaneous  combustion,  and,  as  they  are  now  used  more  than 
any  others  for  lubrication,  one  of  our  great  dangers  has  been 
removed  by  their  introduction.  There  are  mineral  oils  used  for 
lubrication  that  are  dangerous  In  other  ways ; but  they  are 
readily  detected  and  easily  avoided. 

There  is  one  other  subject  referred  to  a committee,  whose 
report  I shall  await  with  great  interest ; and  that  is,  political 
appointments  on  the  board  of  engineers  or  fire-department. 

We  have  occasion  to  inform  ourselves  in  regard  to  the  water- 
supply  and  fire-departments  in  many  cities ; and  in  several  we 
avoid  taking  risks,  either  because  the  water-supply  is  insufficient, 
or  because  the  department,  being  under  mere  political  control, 
is  worse  than  inefficient.  In  such  cases  we  expect  fraud  in  the 
purchase  of  hose  and  other  apparatus,  and  incompetency  in  the 
men.  We  prefer,  if  we  do  take  a risk  in  such  a place,  that  our 
members  should  lock  their  gates  in  case  of  fire,  and  manage  their 
own  apparatus  with  their  own  men. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I am  compelled  to  say  to  you,  that, 
invaluable  as  your  services  are,  and  however  great  your  skill 
and  courage  may  be,  you  cannot  cope  unaided  with  this  great 
problem. 

No  matter  what  improvement  you  may  make,  the  mastery  of 
the  art  of  combustible  architecture  keeps  in  advance  of  you. 

I have  compiled  some  of  the  statements  given  in  the  most 
carefully  prepared  tables  of  “ The  Chronicle  ” (145  Broadway, 
New  York),  and  I find  that  among  what  insurance  men  call 
“specials,”  burned  in  five  years  and  a half  from  Jan.  1,  1875, 
to  July  1,  1880,  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  there 
have  been,  — 


27 


1,911  Hotels. 

400  Churches. 

327  Schoolhouses,  libraries,  and  college-buildings. 

142  Court-houses,  custom-houses,  jails,  and  town-halls. 

89  Asylums,  almshouses,  and  hospitals. 

2,869  in  all. 

Ten  buildings  in  each  week  of  the  classes  which  may  be  con- 
sidered those  to  which  the  greatest  attention  should  be  given  in 
order  to  protect  them  from  the  danger  of  fire. 

I wish  we  could  say  that  in  these  five  years  and  a half  there 
had  been  much  progress ; but  I am  very  sure  you  will  warrant 
me  in  the  statement,  that  the  measures  that  have  been  taken 
to  secure  greater  safety  have  been  more  than  offset  by  the  in- 
creased dangers  caused  by  the  introduction  of  elevators,  the 
greater  height  of  buildings,  and  the  establishment  of  hazardous 
occupations  in  the  upper  stories. 

I am  compelled  to  say  that  the  danger  of  a repetition  of  great 
conflagrations,  like  those  of  Chicago  and  Boston,  is  greater  to- 
day than  ever  before,  although  perhaps  not  in  the  same  cities. 
I have  taken  as  examples  of  bad  construction  some  buildings 
in  this  city ; but  I would  by  no  means  have  it  inferred  that  the 
reconstructed  portion  of  Boston  is  not  safer  than  before  the 
great  fire.  Many  of  the  most  obvious  lessons  were  taught  by 
that  great  lesson ; but  the  changes  in  the  use  of  the  buildings, 
and  the  introduction  of  manufacturing  in  the  upper  stories,  have 
brought  new  dangers,  and  our  present  danger  here  is  in  the 
minor,  not  in  the  major,  faults.  How  much  greater  these  dan- 
gers are  elsewhere,  you  can  tell  better  than  I can. 

The  annual  losses  by  fire  in  cities  as  now  constructed  will 
increase  in  greater  ratio  than  ever  before,  unless  instant  meas- 
ures are  taken  to  correct  the  faults  of  construction,  and  to  sup- 
plement your  present  apparatus  with  other  means  and  appli- 
ances for  checking  the  extension  of  fires,  such  as  I have  de- 
scribed, or  others  yet  to  be  invented. 

I thank  you  for  your  attention,  and  cordially  invite  you  to 
visit  the  office  of  our  company  if  yon  desire  further  information 
as  to  our  methods  or  apparatus. 


